Knitted cap



Oct. 21, 1941, F. J. wx-:NGEN 2,259,537

KMTTED'- CAP I I Filed June 15, 1940 2 sheets-sheet 1 y INVENTOR Z0 Y@www @uw ATI' RN YS.

Oct. 21,1941. F. J. wENGEN KNITTED GAP 2 Sheets she.et 2

Filed June l5, 1940 4 n.. @REQ 1....

, INVENTOR ZZ/ M ATTOR Patented Oct. 21, 1941 KNITTED CAP Frank J.Wengen, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Eagle Knitting Mills, Inc.,Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application June 15, 1940,Serial No. 340,715

9 Claims. 4 (Cl. 2-201) The present invention relates in general toimprovements in the art of producing wearing apparel such as headwear,and relates more specically to improvements in the construction ofknitted caps and to an improved mode of producing the same.

Generally defined, an object of the invention is to provide an improvedknitted cap assemblage which is simple in construction and efficient inuse.

Some of the more important specific objects of the present invention maybe enumerated as follows:

To provide an improved method of producing caps from a continuous ribbonor strip of knitted fabric or the like, having successive sectionsthereof knotted in a manner which will insure most effective conformingof the finished caps to the wearers heads.

To provide an improved knitted cap assemblage `which can be quicklyproduced WithoutV waste of stock, and which Will snugly conform tothewearers head and may be worn in different modes.

To provide a new and useful knitted cap Wherein the texture of theknitting causes the various portions of the completed assemblage toproperly conform with a wearers head, and which is especially adapted tobe worn in cold weather.

To provide an improved snug fitting cap structure which can bemanufactured and sold at moderate cost, and which may be readilyprovided with local accessories for providing additional warmth and trimin order to enhance the comfort and improve the esthetic appearance.

To provide a new knitted cap assemblage which may be rapidly constructedin quantity, and which is durable and highly effective in use.

These and other specific objects and advantagesvof the invention will beapparent fromthe followingY detailed description.

A clear conception of the mode of producing knitted caps in accordancewith the present invention, and of the specific construction of thesecaps, may be had by referring to the drawings accompanying and forming apart of this speciiication wherein like reference characters designateVthe same or similar parts in thev various views. Fig. 1 is a plan viewof a fragment of a continuous flat knitted strip of fabric showing asection sufficient to form one of the improved caps, and also showingthe strip with the normal tension thereon released;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged View of one of the improved cap assemblages inflatly collapsed condition, several portions of one side having beenbroken away in order to reveal the opposite side;

Fig. '3 is a similar view of a modified cap having ear mufls attached toits opposite inner sides, showing one of the chin flaps folded back soas to reveal the ear muffs;l

Fig. 4 is another View of the modified cap of Fig. 3, showing both chinflaps folded upwardly and interconnected at their ends above the top ofthe cap; and p Fig. 5 is a similar view to a reduced scale, of a furthermodified form of my improved knitted cap, having a fluffy foreheadengaging member associated therewith.

While the invention has been shown and embodied in a particular type ofknitted cap assemblage of the aviation helmet type, it is not my desireor intent to thereby unnecessarily restrict the scope or utility oftheimprovement which is more generally applicable to other types of capassemblages.

In carrying on commercial exploitation of my present invention, Ipreferably produce the knitted fabric in the form of a continuous fiatstrip I a fragment of which is shown in Fig. 1. This strip 1 during theknitting operation has approximately parallel opposite side edges and isprovided With a succession of sections 8, 9, l0, Il, which areperiodically repeated throughout the length of the'stripY 1', and ofwhich the sections 8 and l l embody like knitting and have wales eX-tending parallel to each other and to the longitudinal edges of thestrip, while the sections 9, I-|J are rather loosely knitted and haveheavier wales, but the heavy Wales of the sections 9 alone are parallelto each other and to the longitudinal strip edges whereas the wales ofthe sections l0 are formed to draw them into diagonal or inclinedposition with respect to the adjoining ends of the sections 9, Il. Thesmaller parallel wales of the strip sections 8, Il are knitted closer ormore tightly than the larger or heavier wales of the adjoining sections9, I0, and the smaller wales therefore exert greater resistance tolateral spreading of the sections 8, Il than is afforded by the heavierwales. The inclined wales of the sections l0 may be readily formedduring the knitting operation, and the successive sections l0 are offsetin opposite directions as shown in Fig.

1. The knitting machine may be set to automatically switch from one typeof knitting to another required to form the continuous strip 1, so thatno manual operations are requiredafter the mechanism has been initiallyproperly set,

CII

cap structure such as shown in Fig, 2, by sewing the edges of the halfblanks together along a seam I4. The cut edges produced by severing theblank along the line I3 may then be provided with an elastic binding I5;and the triangular chin flaps formed by cutting the section IIdiagonally, may be provided with cooperating snap fasteners I6,

The completed knitted caps which may be thus quickly produced fromsuccessive sections of the strip l, are practically form fitted to thehead of a wearer by virtue of the fact that the closely knithalf-sections 8 provide the extreme top of the dome, Ythercooperatingsections 9 completely encircle the wearers head beneath the cuppedsections 8, the diagonally waled sections I are adapted to lap over theears 'and rear neck portion of the wearer andforce the edges I1 intointimate contact with the` opposite sides of the face while resistingexcessive transverse stretching, and the chin flaps I I which areclosely knit and are reenforced by the elastic edging or binding I5 havejust sufcient elasticity to vmaintain snug coaction with the entirerear, sidesand top portion of the head of the wearer. The specificformation and disposition of the wales of the successive sections duringknitting of the continuous strip, and the subsequent assemblage ofthecomplementary half-blanks, produces a final cap which ts the wearers`head perfectly, and in which the chin aps formedby vthe sections II caneither be secured beneath the wearers chin, or folded upwardly andoutwardly along the adjoining end portions of the sections 9, I0 andjoined by the snap fasteners lli above the top of the dome. While addedprotection` for the ears of the wearer may not be necessary or desirablein most cases, such additional protection may be readily provided asshown in Figs. 3 and fl. The interior of the cap is provided with earmufs or pads I8 which may be permanently sewed in position across thejunctions between the chin flap sections ll and the inclined waledsections Ii). When the chin flaps are connected beneath the wearers chinwith lthe `aid of the snap fasteners It, the pads i8 will -be concealedand will Ahug the wearers ears. However, when the chin flaps are foldedup and are connected above the top of the cap as in Fig. 4, the ear padsill will be visible and will serve as decorations for the capassemblage. v l

It may also bedesirable to provide additional trim for the cap along thefront edges Il, in order to produce a bonnet eiect, and this result maybe accomplished by providing a fluffy member I9 along these edges Il, asclearly shown in Fig. 5. This pompon member I9 will be drawn into snugvcoaction with the face of the wearer by the inclined wales of theVcooperating sections I0, so that the specific formation of these walesmay in fact be utilized advantageously for various purposes;

without annoyance to the wearer.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be apparent that mypresent invention provides an improved method for producing improvedknitted caps of the helmet type, in an expeditious and efficient manner.By properly forming the strip 'I from which the successive caps aresubsequently produced, the texture of the various sections of the capwill cause these sections to most eiectively cooperate with thedilferent portions of the wearers head. The closely knit uppermostsections 8 which offer both longitudinal and transverse resistance tostretching, will cause the top portion of the cap to snugly coact withthe extreme top of the wearers head without annoyance. The relativelytransversely stretchable section 9 will permit the cap to aceommodateitself to heads of different sizes, The sections lil with their inclinedwales, will likewise permit stretching transversely, but will also causethe adjacent portions of the cap to snugly cooperate with the wearersears and neck, and the chin flaps II which `have less stretchabilitythan the sections IGJ, and which are reenforced by the elastic binderI5, may be pulled downwardly and secured beneath the wearers chin tocause snug coaction of the entire cap with the wearers head, but willreturn to initial position whenever released. In this` manner the specicformation of thefwales in the successive adjoining sections, will causethe cap to most effectively cooperate with the wearers head, and byknitting the blanks as shown in Fig. 1, successive caps can be quicklyproduced in rapid succession, and assembled into the completedstructures. The downward and rearward inclination of the wales of thesections l) and their cooperation with the approximately verticalwales'of the adjoining sections 9, II is extremely important in causingthe cap to hug the wearers head, and the elastic edging or binder l5cooperates with the inclined wales of the sections I0 to insure snugcoaction of the rear portion of the cap with the neck of the wearer. Earpads I8 and members I9 may be applied to these caps so as to improvetheir comfort and appearance and these ear pads and pompon members alsocooperate with the diagonally waled sections IB to enhance the comfortto the wearer. The present improvement has provenhighly successful inactual use, and it has been found that caps of this type can be quicklyproduced at moderate cost and are extremely eiective in actual use.

It'is to be understood that it is not desired to limit `the invention tothe exact steps of the method or to the precise construction of the cap,herein described'and shown, for various modications within theA scope ofthe claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. The method of producing a knitted cap, which comprises, knitting astrip havingopposite ends and a medial inner section provided with closeknitted wales extending approximatelyparallel to the direction of extentof the strip, having adjacent each end an outer section provided withlikewise parallel wales of less transverse resistance to stretching, andalso having between `each of said outer sections and said medial sectionan intermediate section provided with inclined wales, severing saidinner section diagonally, superimposing the severed strip portions tocause the correspondingsections thereof to register, and uniting alledges of both outer-sections and one edge of the two intermediatesections to form the cap.

2. The method of producing a knitted cap, which comprises, knitting afabric strip having a medial closely knit inner section resistant tostretching both transversely and longitudinally of the strip, havingadjacent each end of said section an intermediate section provided withwales extending at an inclination to the direction of `extent of thestrip, and also having adjacent the end of each inclined wale section aribbed outer section of less transverse resistance to stretching thansaid medial section, diagonally severing the medial section to producetwo similar but reversely positioned portions, reversing andsuperimposing the severed strip portions to cause the correspondingsections thereof to register, and uniting all edges of both outersections and one edge of the two intermediate sections to form a cap.

3. The method of producing a knitted cap,

which comprises, knitting a fabric strip having a medial closely knitinner section resistant to stretching both transversely andlongitudinally of the strip, having adjacent each end of said section anintermediate section provided with wales eX- tending at an inclinationto the direction of ex tent of the strip, and also having adjacent theend of each inclined Wale section a ribbed outer section of lesstransverse resistance to stretching than said medial section, diagonallysevering the medial section, superimposing and uniting the severed stripportions along all edges of both outer sections and along one edge onlyof the two intermediate sections to form a cap, and applying an elasticbinding to the severed edges only of said inner section portions.

4. The method of producing a knitted cap, which comprises, knitting anelongated strip having a medial closely knit longitudinally parallelribbed inner section highly resistant to transverse and longitudinalstretching, having adjoining each end of the medial section an inclinedribbed intermediate section of greater transverse stretchability thansaid inner section, and also having adjoining the end of each inclinedribbed section another parallel ribbed outer section of greatertransverse stretchability than said medial section, severing the medialsection diagonally, and superimposing and permanently uniting thesevered strip portions along all edges of said outer sections and alongone edge only of the two intermediate sections, the oppositecorresponding edges of the two intermediate sections being joined attheir upper ends and the lower portions of said edges being iiush withthe unsevered edges of the inner section.

5. The method of producing a knitted cap, which comprises, knitting anelongated strip having a medial closely knit longitudinally parallelribbed inner section highly resistant to transverse and longitudinalstretching, having -adjoining each end of the medial section an inclinedribbed intermediate section of greater transverse stretchability thansaid medial section, and also having adjoining the end of each inclinedribbed section another parallel ribbed outer section of greatertransverse stretchability than said medial section, severing the medialsection diagonally to produce reversely positioned similar portions,reversing and superimposing and permanently uniting the severed stripportions along the entire edges of said outer sections and along oneedge only of the two intermediate sections, and applying an elasticbinding to the diagonally severed edges of said inner section portions.

6. A knitted cap comprising, complementary side portions each having anapproximately vertically ribbed upper section connected along both edgesto the other upper section, a medial section adjoining the upper sectionand provided with downwardly and rearwardly inclined ribs, the twomedial sections being connected only at their rear edges, and lowertriangular vertically ribbed sections depending from the lower edges ofsaid inclined ribbed sections.

'7. A knitted cap comprising, complementary side portions each having anapproximately vertically ribbed upper section connected along both edgesto the other upper section, a medial section adjoining the upper sectionand provided with downwardly and rearwardly inclined ribs and forwardedges, the two medial sections being connected only at their rear edgesbut meeting at the upper portions of their forward edges, and lowertriangular vertically ribbed sections depending from the lower edges ofsaid inclined ribbed sections, the upper portions of the front edges ofsaid triangular sections being iiush with the lower ends of the forwardedges of said medial sections.

8. A knitted cap comprising, complementary side portions each having anapproximately vertically ribbed upper section connected along both edgesto the other upper section, a medial section adjoining the upper sectionand provided with downwardly and rearwardly inclined ribs, the twomedial sections being connected only at their rear edges but meeting atthe upper ends of their front edges, and lower triangular verticallyribbed sections depending from the lower edges of said inclined ribbedsections, said triangular sections being joined at the rear portions oftheir lower edges and having the upper ends of their forward edges flushwith the lower ends of the front edges of said medial sections.

9. A knitted cap comprising, complementary side portions each having anapproximately vertically ribbed upper section connected along both edgesto the other upper section, a medial section adjoining the upper sectionand provided with downwardly and rearwardly inclined ribs, the twomedial sections being connected only at their rear edges, lowertriangular vertically ribbed sections depending from the lower edges ofsaid inclined ribbed sections, and an inverted U-shaped pompon membersecured to the free front edges of both of said inclined ribbedsections.

FRANK J. WENGEN.

